Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sand Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sand Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sand Lake
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Sand Lake:
- 44.319184, -83.684704
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sand Lake
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Iosco County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Iosco County
- Since Sand Lake is near Arenac County and also Alcona County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Arenac County
- eBird sighting report for Alcona County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sand Lake ...
We found ten communities that share the name Sand Lake.
There are three communities within Michigan that are also named Sand Lake.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, eight are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Kent County
- Lenawee County
- Van Buren County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sand Lake ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Alabaster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Cedar Haven
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Haven
- Cedar Haven is located in Iosco County
- Hemlock
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Long Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
- Long Lake is located in Iosco County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Lake <4>
- Meadow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - National City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for National City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National City
- National City is located in Iosco County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for National City <4>
- Shady Shores
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Shores
- Shady Shores is located in Ogemaw County
- Turtle
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Twining
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Sand Lake to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sand Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sand Lake and extending to:
- Tawas City, which is the Seat of Iosco County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Sand Lake to Lansing, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 507 miles [815.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,922 miles [9,530.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,660 miles [10,718.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,544 miles [7,312.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sand Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Iosco County: www.iosco.m33access.com/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sand Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sand Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3192, Longitude: -83.6847 In this case, the coordinates for Sand Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Sand Lake could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Sand Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.745 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.635 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.785 degrees. |